AI & Robotics

The smart glasses industry has long been a tortured dream of Silicon Valley. The premise is appealing enough: What if, to enjoy the benefits of mobile computing, people didn’t have to stare at their phones all day long and could, instead, simply wear a lightweight computing device on their face? Science-fiction fans (a demographic that is strong in the tech industry) can see this vision…

Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical on Monday. Titled Magnifica Humanitas, it addresses “safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.” And while AI is the hook, the problems Leo focuses on are older and more pervasive: inequality, war, the erosion of democracy, and the concentration of power in the hands of those who don’t necessarily care whether humanity…

At the Google I/O developer conference this week, we had the opportunity for a brief hands-on with Google’s upcoming AI-powered glasses – not the audio-only glasses that the company said will begin shipping this fall but rather the glasses that offer a combined audio and visual experience. First announced at last year’s event, these Android XR glasses offer an in-lens display that puts…

Rising gas prices have been a recurring headline since the Trump administration started its war against Iran in late February, but it’s not the only commodity affected by the conflict. Around 10% of the world’s aluminum is made in the Gulf region, so prices of the metal have reached levels not seen in the last several decades. Even before the war in Iran, the U.S. government had flagged…